 Tiny scraps of life Hello friends and family It has been a busy week. On Monday, Jan came out and we removed the data logger from the adult. It has been 6 years since I last did this task, and it took a few minutes for me to remember the best technique. It was not a problem as the penguin was relaxed, and Jan is a skilled holder. Sadly, we found a chick at Okahau that had been predated.  the chicks are well camouflaged On Tuesday, Bronwyn and I went down to the Dunedin wildlife hospital to deliver the dead chick and to collect our last chick, two foster chicks for here and 1 for Bushy Beach, Oamaru.  finding their feet The 2 Toms met us at the Moeraki turnoff and took the Bushy chick to its nest while we placed the 3 chicks here. Later I went down the hill to check that they were all okay, and the juvenile was home. I was able to remove his data logger in only a few minutes so that was a good thing. I also saw 2 other juveniles – one did a runner, so it is not one of ours – they are wary but not panicked to see us. Wednesday was Toptip day. It was busy all morning and I took $140+, good business for a Wednesday.  We call these chicks boofers We weighed 2 of the chicks at Okahau on Thursday – the other 2 are now out of their nest box and resting under a tree. Friday was the day for the Katiki Point Historic reserve management group meeting, so Robbie and I went to update the group on penguin issues. Yesterday we got our first rehab patient for the season – a juvenile that came from Okahau point and was roosting in a dangerous place.  The center of attention Nasty November ends today and we move on to the next phase of penguin care with proportionately ½ of the chicks we had last season. Each one is doubly precious. Have a great week! Rosalie   Sleeping beauty Hello friends and family Thor came up from Dunedin on Monday afternoon to put data loggers on a juvenile and an adult hoiho. The purpose of the trackers is to map where the penguins go when they are out fishing. The juveniles are coming and going each day, and we have some adult males on dummy eggs which go out every few days. The process went very well. We did have to wait until 7:30pm for the juvenile to come home, but when he did, he went straight into the nest box to greet his friend, so no chasing was needed. We did see others on our way home.  5 chicks coming home from the wildlife hospital The chick deaths continued. We weighed the chicks here at Katiki on Tuesday and at Okahau on Thursday. On Wednesday Elaine and I took the last chick down to DWH and returned 5 to the nest. Three of them are doing well, but 2 got predated on their first night home.  Too big to cover On Friday we saw 2 Juvies at home here at Katiki. Slowly, the oldest chicks are getting out of the danger zone. Once they get to 3 weeks old, they develop more resilience and their chances of survival increase. Currently we have 12 chicks alive. Of those 12, 7 would not have survived without help. Have a great week! Rosalie   2 beautiful babies, one protective parent Hello friends and family The drama continues. The chicks continued to die here in the nests. We worked through the issues and decided to take the small chicks down to the Wildlife hospital on Wednesday.  A sick chick, on it's was to the Dunedin Wildlife hospital Chicks continued to die, and we simply carry on, watching things go from bad to worse. By Friday afternoon, we were down to 18 chicks. They are not yet out of danger, but the only way that can happen is when they get older.  The cabbage trees are magnificent Today we are down to 15 chicks.  this chick is now in the Wildlife hospital The disease has changed. In the past, one chick would survive in many nests – here they are both dying rapidly, with no warning and up to 2 weeks old.  as near as I got to the aurora It is very sad. Have a great week! Rosalie   Our oldest chicks. They died the next morning Hello friends and family The honeymoon period lasted for a week. On Sunday we found our first case of Diphtheria and found our first dead chick. The dead chick was sent to Dunedin for autopsy, and the sick chicks were treated. We were halfway through hatching. Things were getting busy.  The reward for waking up early It got worse. On Wednesday we found 4 dead chicks. The 4 oldest chicks were dead in their nests. Only one was in a fit state to go for an autopsy. We consoled the parents with a dummy egg and looked at adoption options going forward.  The rogue Sea lion is back killing fur seals On Friday, we found another 4 dead chicks. What to do? I phoned Jim at DOC to update him on events, and we agreed to talk on Monday afternoon, to decide if we will change tack and take our chicks to the wildlife hospital.  the 'before' photo. next week the hedge will be gone. Yesterday the first 2 chicks we checked were both dead. Fortunately, the rest were okay. Currently we have 25 live chicks and 14 dead ones. They mostly die between 4 and 9 days old. Most of the live ones are under 5 days old so these are challenging times. The cause of death is a Gyrovirus called Respitory Distress Syndrome (RDS). It is carried in the chick in the egg and is triggered by stress. It can only be confirmed by autopsy and shows up as red compressed lungs. Our plan was to manage it by minimising the stress at the nest. We reduced our monitoring, but that has not solved the problem. In a week the worst of this will be over. Have the best week you can! Rosalie   3 days old Hello friends and family Sunday was okay in the morning, so Maria and I did the rounds. We found the first chick of the season! We also saw a new Juvie at Kevin’s bush which was great. In the afternoon, the drizzle arrived. Maria headed home early on Monday morning and then the rain arrived, we got 38mm all up which was great, but it also got very cold, down to 2oC. We were treated to the biggest snowfall of the year on the foothills.  Snow on the hill behind Oamaru The team came out on Tuesday to see 2 chicks, and we set up the roster for monitoring the tiny chicks. One person will come out each day as it is easier for the penguins if there is 2 of us – one to hold the adult and 1 to check the chicks. They had their 3 days check on Wednesday morning and were both fine.  A Chick and a pip Fast forward to yesterday. We now have 13 good looking chicks and a few pipping. The single males are wanting to have their own chicks and are disturbing the breeders. We give dummy eggs to any that make nests, but there are a few who don’t and they are a problem. The lucky birds who get a chick insist on crowing when their chicks hatch which is not helpful!  the guilt is showing in the bright pink feet! Nasty November has arrived and with it, it brings death to wee penguin babies. All we can do is remain vigilant, monitor daily and catch disease before it gets bad. Have a great week! Rosalie  |
Archives
January 2026
|
RSS Feed
Te whaka oraka o te takaraka
Penguin Rescue is a member of the Wildlife Rehabilitators Network of New Zealand
Thank you to our sponsors;
HAMPDEN COMMUNITY ENERGY
AUSTIN COMPANY
